Voting and much more

By Leticia Bonifaz

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of the constitutional reform that granted women the right to vote in Mexico. We arrived late because the wave of reforms in Latin America had taken place in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century. At that time, the suffragist movement in Mexico was also very vigorous, but it was stopped at the last moment by President Lázaro Cárdenas despite the insistence of the historical suffragists, among them Margarita Robles de Mendoza .

What is most striking is that, until 1953, it was still in doubt whether we women had the capacity to participate in public affairs and to decide who governed the country. The discussion up to that time was whether women were capable of taking part in public affairs. The premise was still that a woman should stay at home, take care of the children, prepare the food, the clothes, manage the household, that was enough for her. That was enough for her, why should she want more? That was her place. There she was the queen and mistress. What would she have to go out into the street to find? Why would she have to decide who ruled if that was a man's business? Whatever they decided was going to be fine with them. The father or husband represented the women in every civil act. They needed permission to enter into a contract regarding their own property. The civil codes had had a totally patriarchal stamp. The woman went from being a daughter, and then her father made decisions for her, to being dependent on her husband who also made decisions for her.